You Have Beautiful UIs

Hi everyone

We can talk about Web 2.0 strategy and functionality, but the design of the User Interface (UI) is fundamental to the success of any Web Site.

Too often in the past different industries have adopted a cookie-cutter approach to Web Site design, but that is changing dramatically.

Most companies now realize that they need a unique Site design approach to support their new customer centric content and tools, whether it’s a major Brand Site or a campaign specific Micro-Site.

Here are some starting points to consider when thinking about creating a great UI:

1. Create your Own Voice: Does your web site design truly reflect your company/brand/campaign story? The best web sites acknowledge industry norms but are not afraid to make things better, simpler or faster. They are not afraid to let the brand personality shine through in unique or innovative ways. These days Web Sites are often the first place people experience brands in any significant – across many industries such as travel, automotive, finance, fashion, technology – you name it.

But it doesn’t mean you need to look exactly like your competitors just to be in the game. The same customer that goes to your site visits many others, and is not locked into only one way of doing things. Look at best practice across different industries then create your own voice. This article on the design approach from Virgin.com’s new Web Site is a great example how a brand can go about creating something that speaks in a unique and engaging way through UI design.

2. Be Purpose-Oriented: What this means is simply being aware of the different types of users you have to your site. When designing a site our Information Architecture (IA) needs to consider the different types of users and different purposes they have in visiting your site. And we need to plot these user personas and ensure we optimize each journey for a particular customer. Does the site template design, navigation design, iconography, image presentation, information display, etc. actually make it a better experience for ALL your key customers?

Check out this great Web Site from Volkswagen UK, designed from the very beginning to be tailored to different needs of all its audiences.

3. Make it Useful/Usable/Enjoyable: Which brings me too the 3 elements that are a great checklist when deciding whether your design approach adds to the Web Site experience. Does the Web Site actually help you get something done that you need to get done. Many sites now are about providing transactions or tools to help you achieve a specific aim – buy something, test something, play something. So if your site is not interacting or engaging me – why would I visit?

In this article, UI Matters: How an Interface Lift Can Make or Break a Brand, Garrick Schmitt provides a number of great examples of brands such as Mint that combine utility, usability and yes are actually fun to use.

4. Be Organic: The pace of change in ALL marketing means that Web Sites need to be flexible enough in conception and design to cope with constant change in a brand’s involvement in things like consumer-centric content, social media, mobile utility, etc. We call this an ‘organic’ approach to Site design, and something that major Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo does with sites like this so well. The Japanese retailer creates striking visual interfaces that enable to users to look at the company’s fashions in a completely unique, and yet intuitive manner.

And one that is constantly evolving.

What are your favorites?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

5 Reasons Why Thai's Love a Digital Life

Hi everyone

12 months ago I used to have to convince some marketers that Thai people were embracing a digital lifestyle.

Not any more. As marketers we are constantly faced with the digital changes in our work and social lives. But there is still the belief that digital is ‘only for the young’, or that ‘most Thais aren’t ready for digital marketing’.

So I’ve provided 5 FACTS below (mostly sourced from the 2009 Asian Digital Marketing Association Handbook) about the digital change that is sweeping Siam and, what the implications of this are for marketers here.

1. ALL Thais Love the Web: There are more than 15 million Internet users, with a penetration rate of 23.7% this year. That’s up from around 20% last year and next year it’s predicted to hit 28%. That means we’re growing by about 20-25 % per year in terms of Internet usage. And it’s not just urban Bangkokians, 2/3 rds come from outside Bangkok and almost 60% of people online earn less than 30,000 Baht/month. Just kids? No, almost 50% of online users are older than 25. That means all mass consumer brands should be considering their digital strategies across the board, not just for young urban Bangkokians.

2. Thais are Embracing the Mobile Web: I have mentioned before that Thais are amongst the highest users in Asia of their mobile phones, at almost 3 hours a day. While much of this is just SMS & chatting on the phone, the real story lies in how Thai users are starting to embrace the mobile Web. Thailand’s mobile Internet population has grown by 116% in the past year, as people start to embrace smart phones and applications and the mobile web. It is still early days but predictions are that more people will be accessing the web from mobile than from any other device within 3 years. And with a mobile penetration rate of 82% and rising, you better have a mobile marketing strategy NOW!

3. Thais Connect with Social Media: While last year’s stats show 10.73 million social media users in 2008, I know for a fact that Facebook increased their members by about 1 million in the last month alone! Social Networking is split mainly between the teens on Hi-5 (Up to 8 million users) and the 20 + crowd, who are increasingly flocking to Facebook. And the trends are that the biggest growth area is actually in the 25+ age categories. Yes, everyone is starting to embrace this movement. And every brand now needs to recognize this is not a fad, but a real social media phenomenon which requires a new approach to marketing across different age groups.

4. Thais are Crazy about Gaming: According to recent research Thais are the #1 (18-29) for online gaming in Asia, at 3 hours per day. In fact, 33% of all users play games online. And the implications for this are beyond kids again. Looking at all the gaming on popular portal sites like Sanook or Pantip, at Hi5 and Facebook, and how game play is starting to become a part of marketing campaigns and web interaction from all ages. Gaming can be a fun way to educate, entertain and yes to sell. Are you making the most of this opportunity?

5. Thais Live to Blog, Create & generally ‘Engage’: Yes Thais are gaming a lot, using email and visiting news sites. But they are also inter-acting and creating in other ways. Look at blogging – 84% of Thai Internet users claim to write or participate in a blog every week. And 18% have used their mobile devices to make a video clip. As the Web becomes the primary communication & creativity tool in our lives, we need to keep up with the sophisticated and interactive elements in our marketing as well.

Of course we can talk about the negatives. The lack of infrastructure, that 3G is not here yet, the income divide. But the fact is many Thais are not waiting for anyone or anything - just getting out there and doing it. Marketers take heed.

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com

Can Social Media Campaigns Drive Sales?

Hi everyone

It’s a question we’re all faced with now. And it can be a tough one to answer at times.

“How can I get a campaign like ‘Whopper Sacrifice’ that sells?”

And as the bandwagon gathers pace, and social media becomes more central to our digital marketing plans, the right answer will get more important.

Because with more budgets and attention, comes more ROI demands.

But are these sales expectations justified? If you read recent research like this you are left wondering – marketing people saying it’s working, but results saying the opposite.

So what can marketers and agencies do to ensure we are developing social media campaigns that head in the right direction?

Different Ways to Measure Impact

The first step is to remember that social media has evolved by people and for people. It is generally not a direct sales tool, it is a conversation and relationship builder, although there are obvious examples like these that use social media to sell directly.

But in this interesting blog, we see there are a few different social media marketing goals, of which sales is only one:

- Increased Brand Awareness. Content can be created and spread by the social media community and improve public perception of your brand through the social media dialogue

- Reputation Management/ Customer Service. Another goal here is to positively influence the way a potential and existing customer/audience perceives your brand through this participation

- Improved Search Engine Rankings. Used as an SEO tool and creating content for the purpose of obtaining links from the members of the social news websites.

- Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic. Driving visitors or users to your website by investing more time on social communities which have a high topical relevance.

- Improve Sales for a Product or Service. Although hard selling a social media audience through an overtly commercial profile is not advisable because it will come across as marketing spam.

How Successful Social Media Campaigns Sell

So sales can certainly happen, but it’s selling in a different way. Perhaps the best lessons are looking at successful campaigns out there now to see how they are ‘selling different’:

#1. Give people something useful/ fun/ rewarding: Like a lot of digital marketing, utility and enjoyment are vital, because that’s what drives social media conversations and get’s you noticed and talked about or passed on. Look at recent examples like this one from Estee Lauder, offering free makeovers and photo shoots at its department-store cosmetics counters coast-to-coast to produce shots women can use for their online profiles. Similarly we have used social networking in a recent P&G online gaming campaign to help drive awareness and participation among young women in Asia.

#2. Make it sharable in the ‘conversation stream’: Twitter and now much more with Facebook recently, is a constant stream of updates that makes building static ‘fan pages’ and detailed brand material and very difficult sell. Instead, campaigns like this from Whisper (from our colleagues in Singapore) provide tools for women to connect with each other at ‘that time’ through messages of support and encouragement.

#3. Combine all your social media tools: Successful campaigns look at every social media – whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, FlickR, Youtube or Digg – and combines this with other online media channels such as web sites, blogs and online advertising. In this Ford Fiesta Movement campaign, Ford created a grassroots social media campaign to promote the new Fiesta model by placing Fiestas in the hands of 100 social “agents” and having them promote Ford’s new vehicle through Twitter, blogs, video, and events, all without spending a dollar on traditional media.

#4. Make a sale connection a natural part of the conversation: In all of the above campaigns, a sale or sales call is a natural outcome of giving people what they want. For Estee Lauder purchase isn't required, but the promotion does get women to the counter to talk with reps and try makeup. For Ford it raised 50,000 follow up sales contacts. And for Kellogg’s in this campaign, they raised awareness for the US’s largest hunger relief organization, through their Facebook page. Anyone can become a fan and those who donate $5 or more will receive $5 in coupons for Kellogg products. With over 200,000 fans that’s and good cause and good sales result.

So the answer is yes, social media campaigns sell. It may not always be the first or only priority, but done right it can definitely be a key part of the campaign goals.

But always bear this in mind. Do you really want to have a relationship, or even a conversation, with someone who is just trying to sell to you all the time?

Cheers, Rob

Feel free to add comments below, or for further questions or advice contact me at rob.h@th.arcww.com